The next morning, Luna and Avalon ran to breakfast before the professor who was to be their escort could stop them. They had set their minds on seeing Ginny. Panting, they made their way into the Great Hall.

The Slytherins were already there, talking to each other in a cheerful manner.

The Huffelpuffs entered just behind Luna and Avalon. They looked a little worried.

The Gryffindors entered. They looked scared and sad. Avalon understood the fear after Collin had been the one who had been attacked. Luna nudged Avalon and pointed to the other end of the table. Thankfully Ginny sat there. She looked really pale and really tired. But she was safe.

The two of them made their way over to her. "Ginny!" Avalon said as she quickly gave her a hug. "You're all right. We were so worried about you." Ginny looked up. "Why?" she asked. "You were in the corridor where Colin was attacked seconds before or after it happened. We were so worried." Luna added.

"No, I wasn't." Ginny replied. "Yes, you were. We saw you," Avalon said. "Can't have. I was never there." Ginny said again. "Ginny, we saw you." Avalon pressed. "Maybe she was sleepwalking. She looked really out of it." Luna said.

Gilderoy Lock Heart had made his way into the Great Hall. He cleared his throat. His voice was magically amplified. It took him 3 times to get the attention of the whole school.

"Good morning, students. I have special permission from the Headmaster to start a Dueling Club this evening at eight. Just in case we ever have to defend ourselves. He said. Avalon sat down beside Ginny. "There is no way I am going to that," she whispered.

"Oh, and by the way, attendance is mandatory." he added. "Great, just what I wanted," Avalon said sarcastically. So that evening, after dinner, they were all back in the Great Hall. The house tables were all placed together to form a long podium. There was a large blue carpet on it, with stars and long white lines all over it. Gilderoy Lockheart's voice came through the room,

"Gather round, gather round. Can you all hear me? Can everyone see me?" he asked. It was barely audible over the squeaking of the girls' voices. "As you all know," he said, "Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to form this Dueling Club. It is to teach you how to defend yourselves." Again the girls squealed as he passed. Lockheart took off his now sky-blue cloak and threw it into the gathered school. A full scale tug of war broke out over it. In the end, one of the older Gryfindor students managed to grab it. She folded it up beaming.

"Alright, deueling you do with at least two, so I would like you to meet my lovely assistant. Professor Snape." He said. "Oh yes, he is lovely," said one of the Weasley twins. "about as lovely as a puke-flavoured bean is lovely." his brother interjected.

Despite herself, Avalon laughed. Not really paying attention, she heard a crash. She looked back at the table and saw Lockheart lying flat on his back. "Do you think he's all right?" she heard someone ask. "Who cares?"Ron Weasley reacted.

Lockheart said something about it being obvious what Snapes was going to do, and if he wanted to stop it, it would be too easy. "That's as likely as me becoming Minister for Magic," Fred said. Avalon laughed again.

A few minutes later Lockheart asked for two volunteers. He suggested Ron and Harry first. Snape however intervened. "With the simplest of enchantments, Weasley's wand causes devastation. Anything defensive and we can send Harry to hospitalwing in a matchbox." Snape replied. And then he suggested Draco Malfoy. Avalon could not really see what was happening, but after a couple of violent spells they were told that they only had to disarm each other.

"Serpentsortia," Malfoy shouted. And a snake materialised from the tip of his wand. "Don't worry Potter, I'll get rid of it." Snape said. But before he could, Lockheart hit it with a spell. It sent the snake into the air and then back down to the tables with a thud. It was now clearly agitated. But what happened next was nothing short of terrefieing.

Harry walked over to the snake and began to hiss at it. The snake seemed to understand him. It turned to face Harry who hissed at it again. The snake then turned to a Huffelpuff boy. Harry hissed at the snake again It seemed to get more agitated. For the last time, Harry hissed at the snake. It was now inches away from the Huffelpuff boy. Suddenly the snake burst into flames and as Avalon looked up she saw the snapes wand raised. It was obvious that he had just gotten rid of the snake.

She looked back at Harry. He seemed very proud of himself and was beaming at the Huffelpuff boy. Who looked at him angrily. "What are you playing at?" the boy said as he walked out of the Great Hall. Harry quickly left and was followed by Hermione and Ron.

"What just happened?" Avalon asked. "Is he a passle mouth?" Ginny asked aloud. "A what?" Avalon asked. "a passlemouth. He can talk to snakes," Ginny clarified. "That hissing? That was actually talking?" asked Avalon. "Yes. And it is bad."

The whole school seemed to be discussing it. A Huffelpuff girl stepped up to the podium. "He's the Heir of Slytherin. He has been attacking students," she shouted. Some of the other students panicked.

"Oh don't be ridiculous." Fred Weasley said. "Harry, the Heir of Slytherin? You don't really believe that, do you?" he added. The girl looked at him. "Then how do you explain that he just tried to kill Justin?" she asked. "Well, it seemed to me that he was well enough to run away."George added. "Only because Snape intervened," the girl added. Now more students climbed onto the table

"He can speak Passetounge. That's the mark of a dark wizard." An Asian Ravenclaw girl said. Avalon recognised her as Cho Chang. "Yeah, right," Ginny said. "He stopped You Know Who when he was a baby, and again last year," she said.Supporting her brother.

"No one knows how he did it." Another Huffelpuff said, this time a boy. "And no one knows why you know who wanted to kill him." he added. "Yeah," said a 7th year Ravenclaw student. "Maybe it was because Know Who was afraid of him. Maybe he saw what powers he was going to have and didn't want another dark wizard to compete with him," he added.

"Oh please Duncan." Fred said. "As if Lily and James Potter were ever seen as evil." he added. "No your right, but you know who's parents were probably lovely people." Duncan said. "How do you know? Have you met them?" George shouted. "No." Duncan snapped. "It's just speculation." Fred cut in, supporting his twin. "Presiseley, and I am saying that Harry being the heir of Slythering is about as likely as Lockheart being modest." George added. There was a roar of laughter from the students at George's comment and the tension seemed to be temporarily at an end. Fred and George climbed onto the stage and bowed. "Thank you, thank you." Fred said. "We'll be here all week." George added.

"Look." Avalon said as she climbed onto the podium. She added, "Let's not turn on each other." "Who asked you?" a Slytherin boy said. "Obviously not you, so shut up and listen." George said, supporting Avalon. "Turning on each other is exactly what this person wants. The more we point fingers, the less he or she gets noticed, the worse things get." Avalon said, not knowing where she got it from.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"It started when your class entered the school." A Slytherin boy said as he climbed onto the table. "I wouldn't do that." she heard Draco say. "Shut up Malfoy, like I said it started when you and your classmates entered the school, so it's one of you." The boy said.

Luna and Ginny started to climb up now. "Shut your mouth Stuart Wallemby." Ginny said to him, grabbing her wand. "Oh, I get it. It's her." he said pointing at Avalon. "You are the heir of Slitheryn. So you attack things left and right, huh? What are you, part Gorgon?" he said, walking over to Avalon. Stuart was a tall, slightly overweight 5th year with sneering, steel grey eyes. "Maybe we should just get rid of you to be on the safe side," he said taking out his wand. "I've been wanting to try this ever since I read about it." he raised his wand. "Avada," he began.

Suddenly, as fast as a cat, Snape leapt between them. His wand was barely an inch from Stuart's throat. "Finish this spell and you'll be lucky to breathe through a tube for the rest of your life." He said. "It's an illegal curse. But don't worry about ending up in Azkaban. I will have taken care of you before they can find you."

"if you ever try to hurt her again." He said. George jumped down from the podium. He quickly grabbed his little sister and Luna. Once they were on the floor, Fred handed him Avalon.before jumping off the podium himself.

"Did I make myself clear, Wallemby?" Snape asked. He spoke each word slowly, making it sound dangerous. When Stuart did not react, Snape pressed his wand down on his flesh. "I said: Have I made myself clear?"Snape asked again. Stuart coughed a little. "Yes professor," he said in a stammer. "Good, and just to make sure this doesn't happen again, I'll take 100 points off you and give you detentions every night until the end of term." Snape added. "And be glad I am not reporting you to Professor Dumbledore for trying to cast an unforgivable curse. Now get back to your dormitories." He barked at the assembled school.

They all knew better than to argue. So they all left quickly and quietly. Avalon sat down on Luna's bed. "That was scary." Luna said. "I know, what was that spell Stuart tried to use on me?" Avalon asked. "I don't know, but it must be extremely bad for Snape to mention Azkaban," Luna said. "What is that?" Avalon asked. "The wizard prison. Dad told me about it once, it sounds very scary." Luna added.

"Don't read too much into it." A girl called Oona Barnes said as she joined them on Luna's bed. She said. "The whole school was on edge about what happened." She materialised popcorn with her wand. "But what was it that he was going to use on me?" Avalon asked. "Yeah, that part was really scary, and you should tell Dumbledore that he was going to use the Killing Curse on you. Snape just saved your neck." She said. "That's not okay." Oona said.

"Snape handled it. I trust him." Avalon said. "You seem to be the only one but ok." Oona said. They talked for a while. Trying to make sense of things, eating some popcorn. Before they all went to bed, the clock had struck two in the morning.

The school felt the effects of the attack for the next few days. Students were never alone. They walked around in groups. Almost no one had the courage to speak to people from other houses.

Harry was seen as a very dangerous person. Avalon, too, was looked upon with suspicion. Luckily only by Slytherin, and no one seemed to care about them any way. Fred and George were their joking selves. They even went so far as to make fun of the idea that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. They said things like "The Heir of Slytherin is coming through, let him pass on his way to the Chamber to have a cup of tea with the old monster there." After a few weeks, things even started to feel normal again.

Except for Huffelpuff, especially Justin. He thought he was a marked man. And he did not trust Harry at all. He seemed to trust Avalon. He even told her that he had written a letter to his parents telling them that he loved them, just in case. He also let it slip that he had a sister and that Avalon reminded him of her. He also told her that he hoped that she would not come to Hogwarts in the state that it was in at the moment.

Avalon had to agree. For the first time since the Christmas holidays had ended, she longed for home. during the holliday she wanted to go back to school. Now she wanted to go home with the state the school was in. It was no longer the warm, safe and friendly castle that she had made her home for the last couple of months. It seemed cold because of what had happened. Hostile and unwelcoming. But the school seemed to calm down as time went on and there were no more attacks.

Ginny seemed to be getting better too. She was becoming her bubbly self again. Avalon also noticed that the black book Ginny had been carrying around with her was no longer with her. She was smiling again. Her face was less pale every time she saw her.

It was late Febuari when things started to change again. They all walked down the same corridor where Colin and Mrs Norris had been attacked. What greeted them was horrible. nearly headless, Nick, the ghost of the Gryfindor house, was no longer white and semi-transparent, but black and floating in space. Smoke hung around him here and there. Behind him on the ground was a figure. It wore black and yellow robes. And seemed to be carved in stone, just like Collin. It was Justin. And in the middle of it all was Harry Potter.

It was getting harder and harder to see his innocence. She looked around, but saw Ginny no where. "Luna. Where is Ginny?" Avalon asked. "I don't know, I saw her leave 10 minutes before dinner ended." Luna said. "We have to find her. The girls ran off quickly.

"We were going to be in so much trouble." Luna said. "I know," Avalon said, standing still. "But isn't our friend worth it?" she asked. Luna nodded. "I was going to say the same thing, just a little differently." she said smiling. Soon the girls were running again.

They soon found the portrait of the fat lady. The painting was, according to Ginny, the door to the common room. "We just need her password." Luna said. "I know, and we don't.know it"Avalon said. "What are two Ravenclaws doing here?" They heard behind them. They turned quickly. They were greeted by the orange face of Peeves.

"Two little first-year Ravenclaws. Trying to break into Gryfindor's place. Tus tus tus", he said. "Peeves, shut up." Avalon said. "Ooooh, maybe Peeves is offended by this little firsty." he said. "PEEVES." she shouted now. They heard footsteps around the corner. "Hahaha naughty naughty you get caughty!" said Peeves, flying through a wall.

"We should go." Luna said sounding scared. "We haven't done anything wrong?" Avalon answered her. "What if it is the attacker?" asked Luna. "Then I guess we were done for." Avalon said. The footsteps stopped. "were done for." Luna said, closing her eyes.

"BOOH." The voice of either Fred or George Weasly shouted. Luna and Avalon were so frightened that they screamed. Grinning, the twins jumped around the corner. "George, I think our work here is done." Fred said. "You two are." Avalon started to say, grunting at the end of her sentence.

"I know. But what are two young Ravenclaws doing on our doorstep?" Fred asked. "It's very suspicious," George added. "We wanted to know where Ginny was, she left dinner early." Avalon explained. "She said she had to study." George added. "Why do you want to know?" Fred asked, "She's been acting weird." Avalon said. "She's a Weasley, we think weird is normal." George joked,

"No, like really weird George. "What do you mean?" George asked Avalon. "Well, she was in the dungeons after hours and when we saw her, she was like sleepwalking. She was in the corridor when Colin was attacked, also sleepwalking. She looked very sick. And well, she has been very quiet lately," Avalon said. George and Fred looked worried.

"That's not like her." Fred said. "Wattle bird." George said. "What?" Avalon asked. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward, "Its the password." Fred said. They walked into the Gryffindor common room. "Ginny?" Avalon called. There was no answer. "Ginny!!" Fred called after Avalon. "GINNY I WILL TELL MUM." George shouted. They were startled by the opening of the portrait hole. Several seconds later, Ginny appeared. "Where have you been?" asked Fred. "You sound like Mum," she said as she walked past them. "Ginny Molly Weasley. You had your brother and I worried sick." George said, supporting his twin. "Now you sound like Mum." Ginny said again. "Ginny just answer us." Luna said. "I was out for a walk. Why?" she said annoyed.

"Justin was just attacked." Fred said to his little sister. "Really?" she said as she sat down. "That's terrible." she added looking shocked. "So when you weren't there and you weren't in here we were worried." George said. "I mean, we might have had a tease about you and Sometimes we make you look a bit stupid, but in the end you are our sister. Fred added. "Yes, and turning you to stone is really our job." George said jokingly. "Stupid." Ginny said to her brother. "Just trying to ease the tension." Ginny smiled. "I'm fine, just not sleeping well." she said. They all sat down and talked for a while.

The school was even more terrified for the next few weeks. Nobody was in the halls any longer than they had to be. They went to class accompanied by teachers and after class they were in the common rooms. Breakfast and dinner were served there. School became a prison for Avalon. It was almost forbidden to visit another house. The teachers all seemed very concerned. What would happen next?